It's not your fault
by SiriuslyLuvmaiL
Summary: A tragedy happened in Taylor McKinnon's life when she was fifteen and a half, and she thinks it was her fault. When she goes to her high school football game, her best friend Duncan comes along. Will Duncan convince her to let go of the past? A songfic. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, we're going to be late!" I shouted to my best friend while heading out to my car. We were on our way to our high school's football game, and Duncan was taking forever.

"No we won't, don't get your panties in a twist," he called from inside my house. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry about the state of my panties, just get your butt moving, we're late," I said as I got into my car. Duncan ran out of my house and locked the door before getting into the passenger seat.

"How come you get to drive?" he pouted, feigning a hurt look. I laughed as I started out of the driveway.

"Because it's my car and I don't trust you." He shrugged.

"Fair enough. I'd probably run some old lady over."

We joked and talked on the way to the game. About halfway there, I reached over and turned on the radio. At hearing the chorus, Duncan made a face.

"What? Oh, that's right, you don't like One Direction," I teased. I knew very well he hated them. He made his feelings very clear every time they came up in a conversation.

"How can I? They're an all male band who have over a million fangirls screaming their names at their concerts," Duncan vented. "I don't see how you like them."

"They have good voices," I told him, trying to keep my eyes in an effort to not look at him. He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, alright, and they're pretty darn cute."

He smirked. "That's the answer I was waiting for."

"Oh, is Mr. Williams jealous?" I asked in a taunting manner.

"Of course, Miss McKinnon, how could I not be?" Duncan stated, taking my right hand off the steering wheel and kissing it.

"Watch it, Dunce," I warned, yanking my hand back and hurriedly placing it on the steering wheel. "If we get into an accident, I'm blaming you."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, what's the worst that could happen? We hit a squirrel?"

"You never know!" We both became quiet, me watching the road, Duncan gazing out the window.

"Look, I'm sorry, Taylor," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't mean to freak you out."

"You know what that does to me," I whispered, my eyes brimming with tears.

"Yeah, I do." Duncan looked back at me. "Tay, it wasn't your fault. That truck came out of nowhere, there's nothing you could have done."

I just continued down the road, trying to shove my memories of that night to the back of my head.

I was fifteen and a half, driving my twelve year old sister to her ballet performance. She had been doing ballet since she was five years old, and this could determine whether or not she made it into the finals. Duncan, being the best friend that he is, decided to go with me so I wouldn't be completely bored. My sister had insisted we listen to Justin Beiber on the way there.

"Why him?" I had complained. "Why can't we listen to somebody good?"

"He _is _good," Alexa had protested. "Just because you're in love with the One Direction and Hot Chelle Rae boys doesn't mean everybody else has to."

"Just put him on," Duncan said. "We can listen to what you want to on the way home, okay?"

I had grumbled, but leaned down to fiddle with my iPod, trying to find Justin Beiber's album. As I was scrolling through the songs, trying to find one that wouldn't grate my nerves, Duncan shouted, "Taylor! Watch out!" I had looked up in time to see headlights and hear my sister's scream, and everything went black.

I woke up in an ambulance an hour later, a pounding in my head and my leg.

"What happened?" I had groaned, trying to sit up. "Where's Alexa and Duncan?"

"Just lay down, sweetie," the assistant had said soothingly. "We're nearly to the hospital." I laid back down on the gurney and prayed that my sister and my best friend alright.

When we got to the hospital, they set me up on a drip and called my parents. I kept asking about Duncan and Alexa, but the doctors and nurses ignored me. The only thing they told me was that I broke my leg and had whiplash. It could have been worse, though, if the airbag hadn't blocked the blow my head took to the windshield.

I heard my mom's voice a half hour later, panicking about her daughters.

"Your eldest is in this room, ma'am," the nurse had told her, "but I'm afraid that the other girl died in the accident."

A part of me died that day with Alexa. I would later find out that she had unbuckled her seat belt to look over my shoulder and see what song I was picking. I would never find out if she could have become a professional at ballet, and she would never find out what life had laid out for her.

I yanked myself out of memory lane when we arrived at the stadium five minutes later. Duncan pointed out a parking spot, and I drove to it and turned off the ignition. As I went to open my door, Duncan stopped me and made me look at him.

"You need to forgive yourself," he said. "It wasn't your fault; hell, it wasn't anybody's fault. I know you won't get over it, but you do need to get on with it."

I studied Duncan's face for a few seconds. "When did my best friend become so wise?"

He laughed. "Since his best friend needed to hear his wise sayings." He pulled me into a hug. I noticed for the first time how good he smelled. Like fresh soap and something else. I felt my face begin to burn. What was this? Duncan always hugged me. I just ignored it and put it off as hormones.

"Alright, you ready to go watch beefy, sweaty guys tackle each other?" Duncan asked me.

"Come on, Dunce, let's go," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I told you years ago to not call me that ridiculous nickname," he protested as we got out of the car and started to walk to the stadium.

"When have I ever taken orders from you?" I scoffed, leading him to the entrance. We showed the man standing there our ASB cards, and he let us in.

"Never," Duncan said as we walked into the bleachers. "So where do you want to sit? Most everywhere is taken."

I stared at him. "I thought we were going to sit by your bandmates?"

Duncan smiled. "Yeah, I thought about it, but it doesn't matter. We can sit together and find them after the game."

I grinned. "Thanks, but you don't have to-"

He put a hand up to stop me. "Just be quiet and find us some seats."

I snorted. "Yes, your majesty." Duncan laughed and helped me find a place to sit.

"See? I told you we wouldn't be late, the game hasn't even started," he told me.

"Yeah, well, it's better to be early than late," I said lamely. Duncan rolled his eyes.

Ten minutes later, the game began, and the place was pretty full. It was a cool night, though, and about twenty minutes in, I began to shiver. I tried not to let Duncan notice, lest he think I was a wimp, but that plan failed.

"Here," Duncan said, taking off his thick green and white sweatshirt. I wrapped it around me, trying to keep the heat of his body trapped in it.

"Thanks," I told him. During the game, I sniffed the jacket when Duncan was preoccupied by the game. It smelled like him and was really warm.

_Snap out of it! _I found myself thinking. _You act as if his scent would be what you'd smell in that one love potion from Harry Potter._

When our team made their third score, Duncan stood up and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" I asked loudly, trying to talk over the noise of the crazed fans.

"I'll be right back," was all he said, and with a cheeky smile and a wink, he was gone. I thought he must have gone to the bathroom, so I just ignored it and watched the game.

Our team won the game about an hour later, and Duncan had still not returned. I had gotten up to leave and try to look for him when a voice rang through the field.

"Please stay in your seats, ladies and gentlemen, we have one more thing before the night is over," the voice announced. I paused, then sighed as I sat back down.

"Somebody in the audience came to us during the game with a special request," it continued, "and we thought it would be nice ending for a victorious game. So give it up for our mystery band!"

The crowd erupted into applause as figures with band equipment walked onto the field, the one in front holding a microphone. My heart stopped as the figure turned and showed his face. It was Duncan. He smiled up at where I was sitting and lifted the microphone to his mouth.

"Hey, ladies and gents," he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "I want to dedicate this song to my best friend, Taylor McKinnon." He was still watching me as he began the song.

"_It was a cold California,_

_Even in the summer,_

_She was wrapped in a blanket by the pool,_

_There were rapid statements,_

_About life commitments,_

_A sense of heat that I couldn't bear to touch,_

_I couldn't bear it._

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now_

_Please stop your crying now,_

_Woah,_

_Woah._

Duncan's band had set up behind him, with his friend Josh Martin as the background singer. I realized, with tears in my eyes, how much thought he had put into this. He probably hadn't wanted to sit by his friends because he was afraid they would tell me. The song itself was perfect for the situation we had been in just hours ago, but the fact that Duncan, my best friend, was out on our high school football field singing it to me, made it that much more special.

_There was staring and seclusion,_

_A fine tuned way of motion,_

_A face wrapped for a suitor,_

_The sound of hearts pumping at the same beat,_

_Coming round the corner,_

_In almost all directions,_

_A sense of heat that I couldn't bear to touch,_

_No, I couldn't bear it._

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_(It's not your fault so please stop your crying now)_

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_(It's not your fault so please stop your crying)_

_Now you, wait for, something, to cure this,_

_Well I'm here,under your downpour._

_No, woah._

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying,_

_It's not your fault._

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_(It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,)_

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_(No, woah)_

_It's not your fault so please stop your crying now,_

_(No, woah, no, woah) (It's not your fault, so please stop your crying now,)_

_It's not your fault, stop crying now._

I realized something as Duncan sang the last verses. I had never given it a thought before now, and if anyone had suggested it, I would have told them they needed to go to an asylum. I was in love with my best friend. I was in love with Duncan Williams.

As he exited the field amidst the roaring applause, I wiped my brown eyes with my sleeve- _his _sleeve, actually- so that he wouldn't be able to tell that his performance had brought tears to my eyes. Unfortunately, he did.

"Was I so terrible that I made you cry?" Duncan said when he met me in the entry way.

"I didn't cry," I lied.

Duncan led my to the car and I looked at my reflection in the window. Crap, I forgot that I'd put on mascara. I gasped.

"I look like a half drowned raccoon!" I shrieked. I started to dig in my bag, trying to find a forgotten tissue, when Duncan grabbed my hand.

"You look fine," he laughed. "Well, you look more than fine." He took the sleeve of his shirt and wiped under my eyes. "There. Beautiful again."

I blushed. "Thanks."

Duncan shrugged. "It's just a shirt, it can be washed."

"No, it's more than the shirt," I said, taking his hand. "Thank you for the song. Thank you for making me feel better."

Duncan moved closer to me and took my other hand. "That's what best friends are for." He leaned me against the car and pressed his lips against mine.

I can't even begin to describe the feeling to you. My stomach still flips when I think about it. I can say this, though: my first kiss was the best thing I'd ever experienced.

As we pulled away, I inhaled deeply and let it out in one gust.

"Wow," Duncan said, a huge grin on his face as he ran a hand through his wavy brown hair.

"Best friends?" I asked, my eyes wide. He laughed.

"Maybe more," Duncan said to me. He took my face in his hands. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I pretended to think about it. "I don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that." Duncan's face fell.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend, you doofus!" I exclaimed. His face split into a grin.

"Good. Because I don't know if I could deal with it if you weren't," he said, and he leaned down to kiss me again. I happened to glance at the clock in the car, and I pulled away.

"It's almost ten o'clock!" I blurted out.

"Relax, it's only a twenty minute drive," Duncan reassured me. "And if your parents ask, I'll tell them that it was my fault and I convinced you to stay and talk with me."

I sighed. "Alright. Keep in mind that we still have to tell them that we're dating, and if I'm grounded-"

"Taylor, you over think things," Duncan said while he got into the driver's seat.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Who said you could drive my car?"

"Please?" Duncan pleaded, pouting his lip. "Boyfriends always drive their dates home from a game."

I debated this. "Oh, fine," I sighed. "But don't get used to it." I walked over to the passenger seat and got in.

"Thanks, sweetie," he said, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

"Next time, I drive, alright?" I negotiated.

"Sure, sure," my best friend, now boyfriend, chuckled.

We drove to my house in complete silence. Well, the car was silent. My head was spinning like a top. Why did he choose tonight to tell me he liked me? Was it because I had been crying and he felt bad for me?

_No, Duncan's not like that, _I told myself. _He wouldn't even think of taking advantage of you when you're in that state._

"Duncan?" I asked, breaking the dead silence.

"Yes?" the person in question said, turning his head to look at me.

"Why did you chose tonight to do that?" I inquired. "Was it because you felt bad for me?"

A look of shock crossed Duncan's face, and I felt bad for even asking.

"Of course not. I've been trying to get the nerve up to do it for weeks," he told me. "Why would you even think that?"

Great. Now I'm the bad guy. "Well, that's what always happens in the stories you read. The boy says he loves the girl because he feels bad that she was sobbing, blah, blah, blah." To my surprise, Duncan laughs aloud.

"You read too much," he said, still chuckling. "No, I chose tonight because the perfect opportunity came along. I remembered that song from my iPod, and since the band was here and we all knew it, I thought 'Eh, what the hell. We should do it.'"

"Wow, I'm impressed. I wouldn't have had the guts to do that," I told him.

"Yeah, that's why I made the first move," Duncan said, winking.

"Keep driving, Williams. I'm not afraid to make you pull over and leave you here."

Duncan just laughed and continued on to my house. He parked the car outside the dark residence and shut off the ignition. When he didn't make a move to get out of the car, I turned to see him watching me. I cracked a smile.

"What?" I asked, slightly self-conscious.

"It's just... I've never thought about how beautiful you were, especially wearing my coat. Sure, I've had a crush on you since forever, but I never realized how much I loved you," Duncan said quickly. He looked at his hands that were folded in his lap. I tipped his chin up so that he was looking at me. What I saw shocked me. My best friend was blushing. Blushing! Never in my life had I ever seen Duncan blush. Well, except for that time in fourth grade when I teased him about liking Allison Mitchell.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I've never had anybody tell me that I'm beautiful."

"Well, you are," Duncan murmured. He leaned into me, and my lips melded into his. I put my arms around his neck, and he was moving to put his around my waist when a loud knock on the window made us jump apart. What I saw made me want to die right there in the car. My father was peering into the passenger window, wearing his dark blue bathrobe and a frown.

"Oh, crap," I groaned. "I'm so dead."

"You're dead?" Duncan hissed, a panicked look on his face. "_I'm _the one who's dead! Your father just saw me kiss his little girl!"

I scoffed. "Please. I'm seventeen."

"Taylor Marie McKinnon, you get out of that car right now," my dad's muffled voice demanded.

I cooly got out of the car, followed by Duncan, who looked like he was headed to his death sentence.

"Hi, dad," I said innocently. My dad raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like to explain why you're half an hour late?" he said.

"Well, you see-" I began.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McKinnon, I convinced her to stay after the game for a little while," Duncan explained.

"And why's that?" Dad asked.

"My band did a surprise performance after the game," Duncan said. My dad's expression softened.

"Oh, well, good for you," he said gruffly. As he turned to go back into the house, Duncan spoke up again.

"And I asked your daughter if she would be my girlfriend."

There. It was out. My dad froze on the walkway to the house. I have to admit, I was scared out of my mind. I didn't expect Duncan just to drop the bomb like that. I almost was to the point of telling him to make a run for it when my dad turned slowly around, and, to my enormous surprise, cracked a smile.

"I knew it would happen someday," he said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. "I knew it was going to happen someday?'" I asked. "How?"

"Oh, come on, Taylor, I saw the way you two were joined at the hip since kindergarten," my dad continued.

"Well, why did you look like you were out for blood when you, er, caught us?" I stuttered.

"I didn't exactly expect to find my daughter making out with her best friend in the driver's seat of her car," he stated.

"We weren't making out!" I exclaimed.

"Alright, sweetie. Whatever floats your boat." My dad turned around to walk back to the house again. "Oh, and Duncan? Even though I may like you a lot, just remember that I have my hunting rifle stowed away in the garage." He continues up to the front porch as Duncan audibly gulped.

Y-yes sir," he called. "Thanks, Mr. McKinnon!"

"So, now that we have my father's approval, what do you want to do?" I asked Duncan.

"Well, since it's now-" he looked down at his watch, "-ten thirty, I think I'd better go home." He leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips, then turned to leave.

"Wait just a second, there, mister." I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him around again. He was smirking.

"Yes, ma'am?" he asked.

"That did _not _count," I said, and I pulled his face down to meet mine. I pulled away about twenty seconds later. My face split into a smile when I saw the goofy grin on Duncan's face.

"Well, goodnight, love," he said, and he walked back to his car. I waved to him as he drove away, and he returned the gesture.

When I could no longer see his station wagon, I skipped back to the house and up to my room. It didn't matter if I was seventeen, I danced around my room getting ready for bed. When I finally turned off the lights and got into bed, I replayed the night's events over and over again in my brain, vowing never to forget them.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, high school started, and... yeah. I shouldn't need any other explanation. Anyway, thank you to TheCobaltDuchess and White-Roses-Are-Deadly (love the name, by the way) for reviewing, and more credit to TheCobaltDuchess for telling me nicely to get a move on at school:) On with the story!

Chapter two: Practice makes perfect

I woke up the morning after the game feeling strangely happy. Then I remembered about the song, Duncan kissing me...

I looked at the clock. It read six thirty. I could probably sleep in a little bit longer, but the bell rang at eight, so I didn't want to push it. I swung my feet out from under the covers and tiptoed quietly to the bathroom- well, as quietly as I can. I'm about as stealthy as an elephant walking over a field of potato chips. I whacked my foot on the table in the hall. I barely even flinched, as my foot has been victim to that cursed tables many a times. I made it to the bathroom without any other incidents, fortunately.

By the time I made it downstairs after getting dressed, my dad was up and making coffee. He glanced at the doorway when I entered, then smiled when he realized it was me.

"Good morning, sweetie," he greeted, starting the timer.

"Morning," I replied. "I take it mom's not back from her run?"

"Not yet, though it should be soon considering the time," Dad told me, looking at the clock. "Will you do me a favor and wake your brother? When I looked in his room last, he was dead to the world."

I giggled and said, "Sure, dad. It'd be my pleasure."

He eyed me and warned, "Don't tickle him. You know what happened last time. Mom would not be pleased."

I laughed as I headed back upstairs. A couple of weeks ago, I had decided to wake my dear brother by tickling him since he wouldn't respond to my shouts. The problem was that he hadn't gone to the bathroom all night, and, well, he wet the bed when I attacked him with tickles.

"Jacob?" I said quietly, opening his door. I looked in to see my eleven year old brother spread out on the bed, blankets tangled around him, mouth hanging open. I grabbed a pillow that had fallen to the floor and sneaked up to the edge of the bed.

"If you don't wake up this instant, I'm going to mercilessly whack you with this pillow," I warned. Jake slept on, oblivious to the attack he was about to encounter.

I shrugged, then raised the pillow above my head and brought it down onto my brother's body. His dark green eyes popped open in surprise.

"What time is it?" Jake asked sleepily.

"Time for my lazy bro to get up," I told him. He glared at me.

"Seriously, what time is it, Tay?" he asked again.

"About seven thirty, so you've got an hour till school starts." I started to the door and walked back downstairs to eat breakfast. I still thank God that Jacob had gone to a friend's house the night of the ballet. I don't know what I would have done if he had been in the accident, too. Mom was sitting at the table, still in her running clothes and sipping a cup of coffee. She looked up when I entered the room and went to the counter.

"Good morning, honey," she said brightly.

"Morning. Jake should be down in a few minutes, I just woke him up," I told her as I poured my cereal.

"Do I even want to know how you did that?" she asked.

"Oh, it wasn't anything big. I just whacked him with a stray pillow that I happened to find," I said casually. She laughed.

"Just as long as there's no more tickling. That was a bit harsh," Mom said. I sighed.

"Yeah, I know, I was told a million times after that not to."

"I know, sweetie. Now, eat your breakfast, I need to go take a shower." She finished her coffee and got up from the table, kissing me on the cheek on the way out.

When I was done with my breakfast, I did the dishes and went to the bathroom upstairs to brush my teeth. I was just grabbing my backpack when I heard a honk outside my house. I ran downstairs and looked out the kitchen window, smiling at the scene. Duncan's pickup was outside our house, and he was waving me over.

I ran to the fridge, threw the waiting peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple into my bag, and ran out to his car. As I got in, Duncan said, "Good morning, beautiful."

I grinned at him and said, "Good morning to you, too, handsome."

As we drove to school, the truck was silent. Not in an awkward silence, when people don't know what to say, but a comfortable silence. We were just enjoying each other's company.

By the time we arrived, there were already quite a few students milling around the campus, waiting for the bell to ring. We got out of the truck and made our way to the building. Nobody was giving us any looks, that is, until Duncan put his arm around me.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked him, trying not to make eye contact with the staring people around us.

"Positive. I really don't care what others think," he told me. I shrugged.

Since we still had about ten minutes to spare, Duncan walked with me to my first class. We sat and talked until the bell rang at eight, then he gave me a swift kiss, and he was out the door.

Throughout the day, I only had one class with Duncan, and that was geography. I was running late, so the seat beside his was already taken by my worst enemy. I don't even know exactly why I hate Julia Marks. I think it has something to do with the fact that she sucks up to every teacher in the school, but behind their backs is a total b- I mean, jerk, to me. My mom always says that she's just jealous of me. Jealous of what, I have no clue. Julia has perfectly straight dark brown hair, sparkly dark blue eyes (well, sparkly when they're not looking at me) and a body to die for. I've heard that she aces every class except english classes, which she still gets almost perfect grades in. Anyway, the fact that she was sitting next to _my _boyfriend almost sent me over the edge. At least Duncan looked uncomfortable.

I stalked over to where Julia was sitting, and when Duncan saw me, he brightened up considerably.

"Excuse me," I said in a falsely sweet voice. "You're in my seat."

Julia looked me up and down, a smirk on her face. "What gave you the right to this seat?"

"The fact that my boyfriend is sitting beside it," I retorted. Julia's eyes widened as she turned to look at Duncan.

"I warned you I had a girlfriend," he told her.

"Yes, but you never said it was _her!_" Julia exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. Duncan shrugged.

"You never gave me the chance to say anything," he said. Julia huffed and got out of her seat to find another one.

"Thanks, sweetie," Duncan said in relief. "I don't know how much longer I could have lasted."

"Well, you lasted longer than I would have," I sighed. He smiled and was going to say something when the lesson began.

Usually I'm really good in geography, but I was distracted by the holes being bored into my back. I would slowly turn my head to peek behind my shoulder, and I would find Julia's dark blue eyes glaring at me. I was really thankful when the class ended, and as Duncan and I got up to leave, Julia dropped something behind on the floor. She turned once more to smirk at me, and she was gone.

I cautiously approached the folded paper and picked it up, acting like it was a bomb. I looked at Duncan, who was shaking his head.

"It's just going to aggravate you," he warned. I ignored him and opened up the note as I walked to my next class.

_Watch your back, loser, or you may find yourself in the same position as your bratty sister. And stay away from my man._

I was shocked, but I managed to snort in amusement and proceeded to read the note aloud to Duncan. His face got angrier and angrier as I read, and at the last part he burst out, "You need to take this to the principal. Something needs to be done about this psychotic-"

I laughed bitterly. "Seriously? The principal? I'm pretty sure she has better things to do than deal with cat fight notes." I read the note again, and a new wave of resentment washed over me.

"_Her _man? Did she buy you on eBay or something?" Duncan laughed.

"What am I, the last cookie in the jar?"

"Ugh, she's always been nasty to me, ever since we had that misunderstanding in freshman year," I complained.

"I'd probably be nasty if somebody dumped the entire cafeteria container of red sauce on my head, too," Duncan pointed out.

"I only did that because she decided to drop a handful of noodles down my shirt!" I said defensively.

"That was a very entertaining lunch," Duncan recalled. I still remembered that lunch very well. I was in line with Duncan to pay for lunch when Julia walked by and 'tripped', sending her plateful of pasta down my new _white _shirt. I was so angry that I took a handful of my caesar salad and threw it at her face. This resulted in a one-on-one food fight, ending when a teacher pulled me off of a very red and saucy Julia. Unfortunately, Duncan had been trying to break the fight up, and he got totally saturated with Italian food. Julia and I had both received detentions, and I wasn't allowed to purchase cafeteria food for the rest of the semester.

I looked at my watch and cursed.

"Duncan, we're late for class!" I started running down the hall, and we stopped at rooms 302 and 310, which were across the hall from each other.

"See you in the courtyard after school," I told him, and I entered the classroom. Just my luck, this happened to be my worse subject, Algebra 2, taught by my favorite teacher. Note the sarcasm.

"It's lovely of you to join us, Miss McKinnon," Mr. Marlin said in his raspy voice. I thought about retorting something rather nasty, but held my tongue as I took my seat. Duncan was a math whiz, so I never had any math classes with him.

The rest of the day was fairly normal. Well, okay, I did blow up a flask of chemicals in science, but other than that, it went without incident.

"Hey," Duncan said with a half smile when I met him at his truck. "How was your day?"

I threw my dark blue Jansport backpack into the passenger seat and jumped in after it, closing the door. "It was fine. Mr. Marlin gave me crap about being late, but he would have complained about me even if I was the first one in the room." Duncan chuckled as he started out of the lot. We passed Julia and her red Volkswagen bug, and I couldn't help myself; her face was priceless as I flipped her off. Duncan shook his head as I laughed.

"And you wonder why she hates you," he said as he pulled onto the main road.

"Hey, she deserved it after that disgusting note she left me," I pointed out. "Are we going to your house or mine?"

Duncan glanced at me nervously. "Um, I thought we'd go to your house. Is that okay?"

"Sure," I said, shrugging. What was wrong? He usually wanted to go to his house, knowing that his parents wouldn't be home for a few hours, allowing him to play his video games and put off homework.

Ten minutes later, we pulled up to my house. It didn't look like anybody was home yet. My dad was still at work, and my mother was probably doing errands and picking up Jake from school.

We headed up to my room and dropped our bags on my bed. I know what your thinking, won't my parents kill me for letting a boy, let alone my boyfriend, in my room? You have to remember, Duncan and I have been best friends since we were five, and we had sleepovers till we were twelve. He slept on the floor of the living room while I took the couch. My parents put their foot down when we hit puberty.

"Okay, what homework do you have?" I asked, sitting on one side of my desk. Duncan sat in the chair opposite me and pulled out his books.

"Calculus, World Geography, and that ridiculous English paper on 'what you thought of Shakespeare's treatment of female characters,'" Duncan said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"You're lucky, I have a stupid Algebra assignment assigned by my favorite teacher ever, and I still have to read twenty more pages of Pride and Prejudice," I said. Duncan groaned and let his head fall forward onto the desk.

"I don't have the motivation to do homework right now," he said, his voice muffled by the wood.

"Let's do something else, then," I suggested. My best friend lifted his face up from my desk.

"Like what?" he asked. I tried to think of what we could do, but after a day's worth of school, you can't blame me for not being able to come up with anything.

"I don't know. What do you feel like doing?" I asked, slumping forward on the desk. Duncan sat there for a second. You could see the wheels turning in his head. He looked up at me a few seconds later, a guilty look on his face.

"What is it that you want?" I said, sighing. Duncan didn't say anything, but leaned forward. Oh, no. I know where this is going. I wanted him to, but at the same time I was afraid that I would mess up, and he'd be disappointed. But I looked into his clear blue eyes, and all my doubts were forgotten. I stood up from my chair and closed the distance between us. Our lips locked, and I tilted my head sideways. This was even better than the first time. We broke apart when the need for air became too great, both smiling like idiots.

"Practice makes perfect," I whispered. Duncan laughed.

"Not to change the subject, but did you get that Netflix movie yet?" he said hopefully.

"Oh, the newest Batman movie? No." Duncan's face fell.

"But," I continued, "I did happen to see it on sale at Costco the other day, and I figured, 'Eh, what the hell. I'll get it so he can watch it at my house.'" My boyfriend's face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning.

"I knew I loved you for a reason!" Duncan shouted, kissing me again. I laughed and led him downstairs into the living room. He flopped onto the faux leather couch while I put the movie into the DVD player.

Once the trailers started, I grabbed the remote and sat next to Duncan, snuggling into his warm side. He put his arm around me and rested his head on mine.

About ten minutes into the movie, I started to get bored. Come on, it's my best friend's favorite movie, which automatically means that I've seen it millions of times. I tilted my head up and kissed the corner of Duncan's mouth. He looked down at me, his facial expression slightly surprised. Nevertheless, he leaned down and kissed me on the lips. When he broke away, I twisted around and put my hands around Duncan's neck, tangling my fingers in his silky brown hair. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, and I pulled him to me and kissed him, making it deeper than the one before. Duncan swept his hands over my neck and back, making their way to my hips. Before I knew it my back was pressing into the couch cushions and he was hovering over me. We continued to kiss, the moment getting more heated by the minute. When I realized what exactly was happening, I pulled away. Duncan looked down at me, confusion etched across his face.

"D-did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No," I said quickly. "I-I just thought that maybe we were going a bit too fast." Duncan nodded and sat back up.

"Not that I didn't enjoy that," I told him. "I just don't trust myself." My boyfriend chuckled.

"If you don't trust yourself with that, you most definitely don't want to trust me with it," he said. I laughed.

"Come on, let's just watch the movie," I said as I pushed play. I nestled myself into the crook of Duncan's arm so that we were back to our original position. As the movie droned on, I kind of slipped out of focus and started thinking. Which usually leads to a headache since I tend to not stop thinking on something until somebody pulls me out of my daze. I thought back to the school day and couldn't get over one thing: Julia's note. I knew I should just forget it, that she was probably trying to get a reaction out of me. My thought process kept getting slower and slower until I fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
